FBI closer to resuming remains search

STOCKTON - An FBI spokeswoman on Friday said that agents were moving closer to resuming the recovery of murder victims discarded years ago by killers Wesley Shermantine and Loren Herzog.

Scott Smith

STOCKTON - An FBI spokeswoman on Friday said that agents were moving closer to resuming the recovery of murder victims discarded years ago by killers Wesley Shermantine and Loren Herzog.

FBI spokeswoman Gina Swankie said she couldn't give a timeline of when agents would renew the recovery effort, but they are working behind the scenes to make it happen.

"It's an ongoing process," Swankie said. "There's a lot of moving parts to get to that point. We're getting there."

The statement came after Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani sent a five-page pointed letter dated Oct. 18 to Herb Brown, the FBI Sacramento bureau's agent in charge.

She listed a series of questions, asking Brown if he or San Joaquin County Sheriff Steve Moore were in charge of what she considers to be a flawed recovery effort. Galgiani urges Brown to take action.

"I ask that you continue the recovery effort without further delay," Galgiani wrote.

Shermantine and Herzog of Linden were arrested in 1999, ending a 15-year methamphetamine-fueled killing spree. The case reignited in February when San Joaquin County sheriff's deputies recovered the remains of five murder victims.

Herzog had committed suicide Jan. 17. Shermantine in his death row letters maintains that there are more victims to be recovered.